The MacDoctor Blog

News of it’s death has been somewhat exaggerated and the humble CD remains in many respects, the best game in town when it comes to purchasing the source audio for your ever expanding music library. It’s certainly our experience and that of many of our clients here at the MacDoctor. And the latest industry figures would seem to bear out this consumer behavior. For despite the growth in legitimate online music, purchases account for a just a little over 4% of total music sales.

So why are so many of our clients and much of the population still buying physical product when the music and computer industries would have you believe the entire planet has gone download crazy? Is there method in this consumer madness?

Having your music collection digitized and collected together in iTunes is great. And being able to quickly and easily move through your entire library is in many ways beginning to change the way we listen and experience the music we own. Add to this the ability to construct your own playlists, freely download audio and video podcasts from around the world, then take all that content with you wherever you go on an iPod, and you can’t help but love iTunes.

But what about the iTunes store? It’s simple to navigate, fun to use and a breeze to purchase tracks. So why aren’t we doing more of it?

Well, here’s where the CD bites back.

1) Quality.
It’s still the case that in the vast majority of instances, the best quality reproduction of the original recording available to you the consumer, is the 16 bit 44.1khz Audio Compact Disc. The industry has toyed with Super CD’s (24 bit 88.2/96Khz etc) but for the mass market at least, the audio quality provided by the CD has proved more than acceptable. But what doesn’t seem as acceptable is the step back made in audio terms with low bit rate MP3’s and AAC’s, especially amongst serious music collectors and audiophiles. It’s one thing listening to a 128 or 192 bit encoded MP3 or AAC on your iPod on the supplied headphones while sat on the tube or train. But as soon as you play back the same audio through a decent set of headphones or home speakers, much is left to be desired. Having spent hundreds and thousands of your hard earned beans on this music, why listen to it in such an inferior quality?

In order to gain the bonus of having your entire music collection to hand, a trade off has traditionally taken place in terms of audio quality versus available storage. But as storage costs plummet this is increasingly less of an issue. In my own case, and from the very start, I’ve encoded my music at 320kbps AAC. It still allowed me with a 40GB iPod to carry around some 200+ albums. Not my entire collection, but a sizable part. And the resultant 320kbps AAC’s were the closest and most acceptable audio quality to my CD trained ears. A compromise, but only a slight one.

I freely admit that I’ll buy a CD, import it into iTunes and never actually play the CD again. So why have the clutter of all those plastic boxes, shiny silver discs and reams of airbrushed pictures and reprinted lyrics hanging around your home? Well, I’m future proofed, that’s why. I own the original copies of my entire music collection in the premier format available to me at the time of purchase. That’s not really something you can say of your iTunes purchase. Regardless of future storage costs, encoding technology and media formats, I’ll always be able to return to my CD library and re-import and transfer the best quality source material, available to me when I originally purchased an album or recording.

It’s good to see iTunes and Amazon increasingly moving towards 256kbps AAC and MP3’s. But I already decided for myself that the most acceptable file format was a notch higher, and that was nearly five years ago! The worlds bandwidth problems or Apple’s storage issues don’t really have any place in my conscious mind when I want to listen to that great track by The Band or a Beethoven string quartet. I just want to feel part of the music and like I’m in the room with the performers.

2) Price.
The greatest effect legitimate online music has had, is to push down the over inflated cost of it’s physical counter part. It’s been difficult for Record Companies to argue the costs of packaging and distribution in the digital world, and so the price of the product has had to fall. And as traditional and online retailers compete with iTunes et al, so has the price of CD’s. In most cases, it’s as cheap and sometimes cheaper to buy the same album in a physical format as it is the download counterpart. Very un-scientific I admit, but here in the UK, to purchase Ray LaMontagne’s fantastic debut album ‘Trouble’, would currently cost you £5.47 at Amazon and £7.90 at iTunes. Bit of a no brainer really.

3) Packaging.
It’s part of the experience and it used to be part of the art. It can and should be again. I love coverflow in iTunes. But the reason I love it is that it recalls the pleasure of rifling through your physical albums in days past. But what I really want to do is reach in and pull out the linear notes; when was this recorded, where was it recorded, who’s playing the sousaphone ? I’m sure with a little effort Apple could and will get this to work. Artwork booklets that open out in full cover view. But until they do, I find myself reaching for the original CD packaging to find the answer to that lazy sunday afternoon question …. who’s playing that cowbell sooo loudly

4) Copy Protection.
Need I say more? I’ve bought this thing from you, but now you’re gonna determine how and where I can play it!? I understand the position copyright holders and vendors find themselves in, but it’s just been a little too unwieldily. As good as DRM from iTunes has been, I’ve lost count of the number of clients we’ve come across with Sonos Systems installed, unable to play their iTunes Store purchased tracks throughout their own home. It’s another case of the music and computer industries making their problems, your problems. That’s not a good balance for me and something again where the CD wins out.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against music downloads. And I’m certainly not saying it’s not where the future lies. I’m just not gonna part with my cash when I have a better choice in terms of quality, flexibility and pleasure right before me. And it seems I’m not alone.